Manually starting a fire in a fireplace is a tedious and time consuming task. Apparatus have been devised in the past to overcome the difficulties inherent in manually starting a fire in a fireplace. It is known to mount a starter element or burner in the fireplace and to connect the starter element to a supply of natural gas. The natural gas is released by the starter element adjacent the wood or other combustible material in the fireplace and externally ignited. The combustion of the natural gas facilitates the ignition of the combustible material in the fireplace and may be discontinued after the fire is self sustaining.
However, such conventional fireplace starter apparatus suffers from several inefficiencies. Foremost is the lack of a source of natural gas in many buildings. It is difficult, expensive and in some cases, impossible to retroactively install a natural gas pipeline system in an existing building. Occasionally, fireplaces are added to an existing building with a natural gas pipeline system, which still encounters all of the limitations discussed above in connecting the fireplace to the natural gas pipeline system.
To overcome this problem, systems have been devised in the past that are portable and self contained, such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,585, issued to Martin. Such portable systems use a canister of a pressurized fuel such as butane or propane located exteriorly of the fireplace. The fuel is conveyed into the fireplace and is released by a starter element or burner placed on the bottom of the fireplace beneath the wood or other combustible material. The fuel is then ignited as in permanently installed systems.
Although such portable systems are desirable for use in fireplaces that are not otherwise connected to a source of natural gas or the like, they still exhibit certain undesirable characteristics. It is sometimes desirable to remove the apparatus from the fireplace during periods of nonuse, for cosmetic or safety reasons. This requires that the starter element be removed from the bottom of the fireplace, carrying with it ashes, soot and other undesirable contaminants. Frequent cleaning of the starter element is messy and time consuming. External storage of the entire starter apparatus, which is relatively bulky and space consuming, is bothersome and inconvenient and creates unnecessary delays in reinstalling the entire system each time a fire is desired. In addition, the starter element will be heated during use to a temperature that is uncomfortable to handle during or just after use. Thus, the apparatus must remain in the fireplace for an extended period of time after use to allow it to cool. Also, storage of the burner at elevated temperatures next to combustible materials externally of the fireplace (i.e. newspapers, carpeting, rugs, wood or the like) is extremely hazardous. Existing fireplace starter apparatus such as the starter apparatus in the Martin patent places the starter element well below the wood or other combustible material in the fireplace and does not secure the element in a predefined fixed location during use in relation to the wood, and therefore limits the efficiency of the starter apparatus.